This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2000 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while the driver was driving at 55 mph, the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floorboard. The driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a fence and a tree. A police report was filed. The driver sustained injuries to the arms and body. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
: the contact stated the vehicle was not included in NHTSA recall # 03V482000, for the fuel system: Gasoline due to the VIN, when the manufacturer was notified, although the vehicle had the same problems as described in the recall. The contact stated while traveling 55 mph, the engine hesitated when the accelerator was depressed, making a chugging or coughing sound before the engine reacted and accelerated.
On interstate 95 with cruise set at 70M.P.H. my car excelerated to 95 M.P.H. I could not disengage the cruise and the brakes did not function. I was able to slow the car to 60 M.P.H. by pressing the brakes as hard as possible then I turned the key off which stopped the exceleration but also impaired the steering. I was able to get the car to the emergency lane and my son pushed us off the shoulder of the road.
While driving 45 mph consumer applied the accelerator pedal, but it failed to accelerate. This caused the vehicle to decrease in speed. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and pulled over. Consumer inspected the vehicle, and noticed that the accelerator cable broke. Vehicle was towed to a body shop for inspection, but cause of the failure was not determined. The consumer stated that the accelerator cable snapped in one place and was very weak in another place.
While driving on the freeway at 60 mph accelerator pedal stuck. When this occurred vehicle accelerated to 90 mph. There was no vehicle in front of the consumer, so he was able to pull off the freeway by putting the vehicle in neutral and coasting to a stop.
Hi, I own a 2000 Ford Focus and it has been nothing but trouble. I purchased the car brand new in 2000 and have had it in the shop so many times. I have had my rear passenger side window mechanism replaced by Ford, then personally replaced the driver front window mechanism and the driver back mechanism due to cable breaks. I have had it in with the radio 3 times and it still does not work correctly. I have had to have the brakes replaced, the ignition block replaced, the struts and shocks. The trunk release has never worked. Now it keeps breaking down on me if I drive for more than 1 hour non stop. This weekend I went to san antonio from corpus, it died on the highway 3 times going to sa and coming home 4 times & how safe is that! Ford said they cannot do anything for me unless it is messing up when I bring it in while it is acting up, however it always happens when I am away from town. They told me that if they hook it up to the machine it will not tell them anything. Also, on several occasions my accelerator has stuck and I cannot brake, I have to put the car in neutral and press on the brake hard while the RPM's are still revving and pull the emergency brake, the first time this happened I was pulling into a parking spot and went over the yellow divider. Is there anything I can do?
2000 Ford Focus LX 4-door sedan - numerous complaints: 1) currently have 75,200 miles on car and have gone through 5 (yes five!) complete sets of tires.2) engine stalls at any speed with no warning lights or indications, car bucks and gas pedal can be depressed to floorboard and car will not move - barely avoided three accidents (two of which would have involved my two small children) 3) all four doors will stick - really need to pull to open - and once open, they will not close again (you need to try to close the doors repeatedly before they finally latch). They also popped opened while driving. Afraid one day one of my children or a passenger or myself may be injured. They are manual door locks and latches. 4) same with trunk - often needs repeated tries to close and latch 5) leak in front passenger footwell - when it rains, or when going through carwash 6) front brakes have been replaced twice at my cost - horrendous, irritating, embarassing squealing is incessant - brake dust accumulates every day! in some instances, brakes need to be applied very firmly to stop vehicle (again, I do not feel safe with my children in car). 7) extremely foul smell when air conditioning use is attempted. 8) stereo was replaced - original factory installed would not work after 2 months of ownership. 9) paint is flaking off of skirts - I was informed by Ford that this is "sandblasting" and that I must drive on dirt roads all of the time - I live on an asphalt street, drive on asphalt roads and asphalt highways - not dirt! 10) fuel pump was replaced once already - was told I must be buying "dirty" gas - if it is dirty gas, is that my fault? I don't exactly run the gas stations, and I don't buy fro one specific station - I fuel up when I'm low, wherever it is convenient. 11) I have had three alignments to try to stop the horrible shaking of the car - the steering wheel vibrates so badly that my arms are sore by the time I get to my destination.
When driving consumer stated when gas pedal is pressed there is no reaction and vehicle looses power. Consumer feels this is unsafe, chance of being rear ended.
When depressing gas pedal vehicle would gain speed. Consumer really noticed it when air conditioner was running. Dealer has been contacted, but couldn't duplicate problem.
Fuel pump problems: When making right hand turns, or driving around extended right hand curves (like freeway on- and off-ramps [aka cloverleafs]), the car nearly stalls when attempting to accelerate after the turn. When consumer steps on the gas pedal, the engine seems to stop running. When consumer lets off the pedal, the engine runs again and once the car has rolled in a straight line for a short distance, (50-100 ft.), consumer is able to accelerate. This problem begins to show up when the fuel gauge indicates the fuel tank is less than full. At that point, the stalling problem only occurs after making a hard turn. The stalling problem is easier to replicate as the amount of fuel indicated by the fuel gauge drops below 3/8 of a tank. This problem has not occurred when making any left hand turns. Rear electrical problems up until about 38,000 miles, these problems were intermittent, and werenot evident most of the time. Consumer had the vehicle checked at a dealer and they were not able to locate (or even reproduce) the problem. Recently, the problems began to reoccur more frequently, until now, they are present virtually all the time. The problems occur together. If one part of the system is functioning properly, the other parts are functioning as well. The problems are, the right turn signals flash quickly. The right turn signals flash quickly when the brakes are applied. If the turn signal is on without the brakes (as in approaching a turn or signaling a lane change), the turn signal flashes normally. The left turn signal is never affected. The rear window defroster does not work. The light on the switch illuminates when pressed on but the window does not clear so there seems to be no power going to the wires of the defroster. Taillights and back-up lights illuminate. When the switch of the rear window defroster is on (and the defroster is not working) the taillights and back-up lights illuminate.
Accelerator stuck at 2000 RPM's, dealer said there was rub marks on the inside of assembly. The service manager said car is unsafe to drive in current condition. The part is backorded nationally.
Brakes to this date continue to be a problem; grinding, squeeling, etc; cruise control sticks, airconditioner leaks, sometimes ignition switch turns sometimes not, car vibrates excessively, car speeds up and slows down on its own, and stalls occassionally...received recall on rear drum axle but nothing from Ford on anything else. I do not feel safe in this vehicle.
Vehicle accelerates when applying speed pedal. If he doesn't apply brakes to slow down, vehicle will continuously speed up faster. He has to put vehicle in neutral, and turn the vehicle off. Sometime it works and sometimes it doesn't work.
While driving accelerator pedal became stuck. Vehicle was picking up speed. Shifted into neutral to slow vehicle down. Took vehicle to dealership & mechanic indicated the problem was the cruise control. Ordering parts to replace the cruise control.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Paducah, KY, USA